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CHICAGO MATTERS: Inside Housing

We encourage you to read your fellow listeners' responses to the Chicago Matters: Inside Housing series. To share your own thoughts, e-mail chicagomatters@wbez.org. We will post selected responses on this webpage.

General Comments

I am a lifelong resident of the Norwood Park neighborhood on the far Northwest Side. I live in the same house my Swedish immigrant grandfather purchased for $5,000 in 1927, a time when he was escaping the crowded Swedish immigrant settlement near Foster and Clark.

This underscores a point I would like to make about the "Chicago Matters/Housing" series. I try to make it a point of listening to the engrossing programs each day, as I drive home from my office in Schaumburg. My compliments on the research that has gone into the segments thus far.

However, there is another compelling story you have not addressed, and that is the "silent generation" neighborhoods of Chicago, like Norwood Park, Edgebrook, Edison Park, Gladstone, Portage Park — comprising the greater expanse of the far northwest side. Moreover, your series seems to imply that the movement of people outward from the central city into these areas was and always has been predicated by racial concerns and so-called "white flight."

This is certainly not true when considering the broad sweep of urbanization since the Civil War. The white flight issue is a complex one that accelerated on the South Side after World War I, but it is not representative of the history of other communities (north and northwest) in Chicago where the greater majority of the first generation immigrant population, living in hermetically sealed inner-city ethnic enclaves where some other language other than English was predominant, gradually changed the face of Chicago by dispersing and moving to communities further away, with affordable housing. In the process, segregation of the various "tribes" of people was easily accomplished within a few decades, i.e. Italians and Germans and Poles, and Swedes, and Irish, suddenly living together (harmoniously) side by side in affordable bungalow housing. This was unheard of in Chicago before the 1930s. It was a social phenomenon for the times.

There is safety, quiet and tranquility but also a sameness to Norwood. As you might expect, there are not many book authors or people involved in the creative world living out this way. Often I am torn between my two worlds; the lakefront community that rarely ventures west of Ashland Avenue (Chicago is truly "Balkanized" in this respect), colleagues from Uptown and Lakeview who wonder why I prefer to remain in Norwood Park, among the (many blue-collar) hard-working people who admittedly never set foot in Lakefront Chicago.

I choose to live here because my grandfather lost this bungalow in the Depression. I cherish it for the struggles it represented to him, and how hard he fought to get it back under the NRA legislation in 1935.

--Richard C. Lindberg
Chicago, IL

The very worst sin of all is to interrupt All Things Considered or news programs.

If someone actually has a concern for this issue, then address the root causes accurately and honestly. Indicate what the individual must do to rejoin the mainstream of society. The maudlin tear jerking approach is an intellectual turnoff.

In spite of this major irritation, I will continue to listen to your station but will take a break when this sort of thing comes on.

--H. David Redszus
Chicago, IL

I know quite a bit about housing in Chicago, the CHA, and public policy. I was an alderman for seven years, then HUD's regional director and the driving force behind the federal takeover the CHA. So I have more than a little familiarity with the ground covered in your Inside Housing series.

That makes me uniquely qualified to sing your praises. Chicago Public Radio reporters have done a superb job telling a complex and—at times—painful story. The dynamics of our economy create inequities and change. On balance and over time the changes are wonderful. Unlike the general historical pattern in other times and places, our financial inequities are caused by the newly created wealth of some rather than any newly imposed poverty on many. But in Chicago that dynamism is overlaid upon a history of racial discrimination in housing, employment, education, and even in leisure (just think back to incident that set of the 1919 riots). That combination makes our housing market a dangerous and stormy sea for many to navigate. Yet those who are forced to find their way are as often articulate and courageous as they are ignored. You have done a great service by encouraging and amplifying their voices.

If there is a gap in the series it is on the policy side. But describing how the work here in Chicago fits into a national policy, and how the United States differs from other countries in its approach to finding homes for its people is a story better told to folks on Capital Hill. Your focus on people is compelling and using stories rather than statistics is more honest. I recall leaving college wanting to come back and work to improve the city I love. At the same time I remember feeling uncomfortable with classmates who wanted to "do" urban policy. They went to D.C., and I came home and taught in the Chicago Public Schools. Years later, when I went to work at HUD I met them again. I will never forget taking one of them (a smart, well intended policy maker) to spend the evening at the Robert Taylor Homes during a gang war. He fled, shaken, to O'Hare. Yet soon it became clear that he had undergone his own transformation from policy maker to public servant. Your reporting choices will have the same effect, as in the end it is people (even more than housing) that matter.

In a time where journalists have often earned the epithets hurled their way, your constructive and brave work reminds us all of the power and the necessity of a free press. Keep at it!

--Edwin Eisendrath

When does this "series" end? I have turned off Chicago Public in the mornings, unfortunately, due to this awful series. I don't want to hear about this stuff in the morning—give me the news!! Plus, most of your listeners have nothing in common with nor any interest in low-income housing or the people who live in low-income housing.

I am completely disgusted with Chicago Public Radio.

--MJ Tracy
Chicago

I heard your piece this morning at 7:50 am about the family who was always on the run. I found that piece fascinating and very well produced. I also enjoyed the segment yesterday about the tribulations and fate of various trailer home families.

I've been a regular listener to WBEZ but have only recently discovered your Chicago Matters stories. Keep up the good work.

--Elliott J. Tso

I am baffled by your stories this morning and yesterday morning about "housing." What do these stories have to do with housing?

One was about rape, the other about marital problems. The only connection to housing was that the people featured lived somewhere; but
so does everyone.

The stories just went on and on with no apparent relevance to anything.
I finally just turned the radio off.

Aren't there are stories about housing worth telling?

--Elizabeth Fertik
Oak Park

I've been rather disappointed in the Chicago Matters series Inside Housing. By contrast, the series on work and religion were fabulous and I hope they are repeated in the future. Inside Housing focuses a lot on people whose own lives are disorganized or deeply affected by poor decisions. The mentored interviewers let their subjects spend too much time on feelings and history, and not enough time on direction and possibility.

Poverty and housing are tough issues and we are all responsible for the state of public housing. Affordable housing in mixed income communities is essential to reducing the kind of entrenched poverty that destroyed Cabrini-Green and the Robert Taylor Homes.

But, your series would not motivate me to make more Section 8 units available if I owned property unless I could demand the same kind of "tenant responsibilities" as CHA now demands. As private property owners and city residents we all benefit when the "ghetto" life disappears. Mixed income housing and dispersion of low income housing in suburbs are necessary to achieve that disappearance. But it won't happen if apartment building owners or developers have to worry about drugs, parentless children, litter, tenants who won't answer phone calls or who are never home to take care of anything or are always in debt.

I'll continue tuning in and try to listen to back segments in order to fairly judge what the series wants to teach. At this point, what I am learning is neither new nor inspiring.

--Eileen Klees
Chicago

House of Pain (5.15.02)
Listen to this report.

I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed your program called House of Pain. It was really powerful.

I was saddened to hear about the plight of the residents of Stateway Gardens. Being a South Sider who has driven by these buildings on the way to work for several years, I never really thought about the people who live there until your story. The residents of this community have overcome so much to keep their homes and I hope that your story reached others in the same way.

Please continue to provide excellent programming such as this series.

--Amy

As the assistant administrator of a long-term care facility, I listened with interest to your Chicago Matters story about a disabled man living in a nursing home and trying to find independent housing. As a long-time member of and listener to Chicago Public Radio who has come to expect in-depth, unbiased coverage, I was extremely disappointed in the anti-nursing home bias of your report. While discussing the difficulty in finding independent housing for the disabled, the social service worker in your story implied very clearly that the evil, greedy nursing home takes all but $30 of the man's social security check without ever explaining that the Illinois Department of Public Aid requires that a person's Social Security go to pay for his or her expenses in a nursing home. The cost of providing 24 hour nursing care is high, and there is no other business anywhere that would be expected to provide goods and services for free if a person can't afford them. Your audience should also be aware that man's monthly check doesn't even cover one week's worth of expenses. The balance is paid by the state four months after the goods and services are provided. One other very offensive statement was made by the narrator of the story, who said that because this particular man is relatively independent, he doesn't have to suffer the abuse and neglect "common" in nursing homes. You do a huge disservice to the many hardworking professionals who work long hours to provide care for people whose families and friends can't or won't be bothered with them. When will our society stop vilifying nursing homes and realize that we provide an essential service?

I feel for the unfortunate fellow on today's program who was looking for accessible housing. I broke my neck 30 years ago and left the state so I could return to work. I was lucky; my engineering education and experience was behind me. Although, I had to take early retirement four years ago, I returned to Illinois to find it even more corrupt and less attuned to the needs of the disabled than when I left in 1973.

While working in Iowa for 16 years, I used three different health service agencies (and that was when they had to arrive at my house at 5 am so I could be at work by 7:30 am); the first six months back in Illinois, I went through 10 such agencies who had the flexibility to arrive at any reasonable morning hour. The difference is that "abandonment" is illegal in Iowa; in Illinois, the crooks that collect our taxes allow one to be abandoned with a 72 hour notice (which they usually deliver on a Friday morning.) I knew when I was growing up here that Illinois was corrupt. It took a severe injury, a real need, and a comparison with how similar matters are handled in two other states to show me just how much we have to be ashamed of.

--J. H. Borchard
Lake Villa, Il

Restrictive Covenants (5.08.02 and 5.09.02)
Listen to this report.

I am a regular WBEZ listener and have really been enjoying Inside Housing.

My day-job aside, I am a poet and musician. I also publish a literary magazine called After Hours. Well, I guess this e-mail is meant just to share...your pieces on the "covenants" brought some childhood memories and inspired a poem. Thought you might like to see how your work has affected others.

--Al DeGenova

"Broken Covenant"

We broke the covenant.
Sinners, we
sold our house to a black family.
In 1965, in Chicago, the unwritten rules
were clear.
We broke the covenant.
My father on the run
from the bank -- another family
forsaking the projects just two blocks away.
Our neighbors would never
speak to us again. We
broke the covenant.
But what of this family who chose
to live among Cubans Italians Irish --
on one side a family so arrogant they refused to speak --
on the other side, a clan with eight kids, including a boy
who ate dirt with a tablespoon in the front yard,
their house so close we could join in their breakfast conversation --
and next to them
new-world fascists who sent their son out to play
dressed in military uniforms.

Green was the only color my father saw,
a family with a proud
down payment clenched
in a strong working man's hand --
a black man buying our house
a man who would never run.

We broke the covenant
and moved into a two-bedroom basement apartment
heads down on a dark rainy October afternoon.

Raising a Zambian Family in Chicago (4.25.02)
Listen to this report.

Thank you for airing the user (phone) comment where he said the Zambian immigrant's being torn between his allegiance to his home country vs. his allegiance to the U.S. is the reason why people here are against an open-door immigration policy. I agree with that listener. People who make the U.S. home should assimilate (does not mean they lose their culture and heritage) and give something back to the country they live in.

--Josephine McGuire

Predatory Lending (5.01.02)
Listen to this report.

I'd first like to say how much I enjoy WBEZ's programming, and how refreshing an approach you take to a variety of issues. In fact, I rarely listen to other radio stations anymore. However, I did take exception to your story on predatory lenders this morning. I felt that the story was noticeably biased against the bank that made the mortgage, especially since they could not be contacted for comment. While it is undoubtedly true that there are companies that stay in business thanks to predatory practices and naive consumers, your piece seemed to place little, if any, of the responsibility for this ignorance on the home buyer. It is hard to believe that a grown woman with two children to consider agreed to buy a house after having seen it only once, and that she did not consult another source, even a trusted friend, on pricing and legal matters, especially given her inexperience. The fact that she knew her credit was questionable speaks of previous financial missteps in the past. I also felt that little evidence was offered to support the claim that the woman featured had been preyed upon. And what was the point in lambasting a company that's no longer in existence? Like it or not, when we do something foolish that we regret, we ultimately have no one to blame but ourselves.

--Eileen M. Chavez
Bartlett, IL

Mobile Homes (4.23.02)
Listen to this report.

I am writing in regard to the interview with Terry Nelson, president of Mobile Home Owners Association of Illinois. I have to agree with Terry in regard to living in a mobile home. I do live in a "mobile home" but that does mean we can pick up and move at any given time! We are not "trailer trash" and we may not pick up and move at any given time, as it costs as low as $1,000.00 to move a "mobile" home. As any home owner, we do and should have rights, and thank god for people such as Terry Nelson who are dedicated to serving the rights of mobile home owners and for making sure that the laws of mobile home "park" owners are followed through with fairness and honesty. There are more and more senior citizens who are choosing to live in this lifestyle, more so for financial reasons, that need the representation of such a fine person as Terry, not too mention young couples and families, as my husband, children and I are! It is time that everyone take notice that these are our homes, not just someone who "chose" to live in a "mobile" home park. Regardless of what anyone else may think, this is all we can afford for the time being, and we deserve just as much rights, if not more, than anyone living in a single family "regular" home, where the land is theirs, or leasing an apartment, for all that matters. We do the best we can and live day by day just like everyone else in life. My family may still struggle to make our "home" payments, lot rent, ins, etc., but we make it! We are still a family and deserve to be treated fairly! Thank you and a very "special" thanks to Terry Nelson for caring, when possibly nobody else does!

--Jessica Monty
Loami, Il

Personal Story:
Don Kimball: The Visitor (4.18.02)
Listen to this report.

I must take strong exception to your piece that involved a visit by a conservative Republican housing inspector to the Henry Hyde homes. The piece was rife with politically slanderous implications that the Republican party somehow condones public housing being below specs. While Republicans do not feel that individuals in public housing deserve the right to certain luxuries like location or amenities, we certainly don't want people living in their own sewage. No mention was made of the fact that these homes were created and have been administrated by Democrats for decades. Further, your piece demonstrated once again the failure of a public works to provide what private groups can provide better, cheaper, and more effectively.

For this bit of programming, you have earned your reputation as a politically biased station that doesn't deserve what money you still receive from the public trust.

--David Kendall
Chicago, IL

Personal Story:
Milton Reed: Panthers and Palm Trees (4.16.02)
Listen to this report.

You ran a wonderful interview with a mural artist who paints wall murals in units at the Robert Taylor Homes (I think) in Chicago. I loved it and would like to hear it again and share it with my wife. I listened to that interview on my train ride home and caught myself laughing out loud several times (which is apparently unacceptable to some of my fellow riders—who cares). Thanks for bringing that interview.

--Randy Newsome

I just heard the Chicago Matters piece on the artist in the projects along State Street. That was incredible! An unbelievable story. Are you considering submitting it to NPR to see if they wish to include it in All Things Considered, etc.? I would love it if you would attempt this. Thank you.

First Chicago Matters: Inside Housing is great. Creative, down to earth, well produced—good work.

Next, how can I get copy of the interview with the Chicago Housing Authority painter, he is great. That's life in the projects from an artist's perspective.

Finally, I have known poor folks who's life ambition was to get a project home. It was a big deal. They had to work many years to get that. For
many it was a lifetime accomplishment and well earned. No one seems to understand or even be aware of this basic reality of being poor and black in Chicago.

God bless Daley and his flower pots and wrought iron. (Geez!)

--Elmer Rich
Chicago

Town Meeting on Gentrification in Lincoln Square (4.15.02)
Listen to this town meeting.

Excepts for one speaker, no person mentioned the private housing market that is the basis for the economy in this country. I was waiting for some homeowner to ask why they are not allowed to sell for the price the market will allow. Ask any of your speakers if they would allow a cap on what they can sell their car for, or their stock, or anything else they own?

Housing is no different then any other product, the market sets the price!

--Jeff Jankofsky
Chicago, Il

On March 1 of this year we moved out of a second floor apartment in Lincoln Square to our newly purchased home in Hazel Crest Proper. We were driven to write after hearing your broadcast of the Town Meeting at the Sulzer Library.

Our situation directly parallels the scenarios discussed in your broadcast. We lived in Lincoln Square for eight years, renting a three bedroom flat for $600 a month. When our building went up for sale in the summer of 2001, we found nothing affordable either for rent or purchase. A six-month-long search within 20 miles of the city produced no results matching our modest middle-class means. (We are professional musicians.)

After searching the Internet and newspapers, and driving through neighborhoods with and without Realtors, we headed south. In Hazel Crest we found space beyond our expectations at a price we could afford.

We are very much interested in the May town meeting from our new locale. Let us know if we can contribute in any way.

--Ingrid Krizan and Julian Romane
Hazel Crest, IL

Teens Fight Gentrification (4.08.02)
Listen to this report.

I wanted to thank you for your current Chicago Matters series which I have truly enjoyed each morning on my drive to work. I wanted to comment in particular on a story featured about 2 weeks ago about the Uptown neighborhood and Prologue school. I thought the piece was excellent. My husband was raised in Uptown and I spent the past 10 years living there. He is a teacher with the Chicago Public Schools, working in Uptown, and I'm a social worker. Yet, despite our history in the neighborhood and the combined income of two professionals, we were forced to move out of the neighborhood in 2001. Due to the rapid gentrification in the neighborhood, it simply wasn't feasible/affordable for us to buy (we've now relocated to Albany Park). Many of our friends who are still renting have been similarly forced out as gentrification leads to increases in property taxes followed by rent hikes. I was interested to hear about the organizing efforts of youth to address this problem as it related to Prologue. Thanks for a job well done.

--Keri Krupp
Chicago, IL

Dear Ms. McCray,
I listened to your piece, "Teens Fight Gentrification," yesterday morning with my mouth hanging open. It was so biased I couldn't believe WBEZ Chicago Public Radio would be a host to this type of media coverage.

Let's explore some of the points you covered. First, why was Corie no longer attending the high school in his neighborhood? Why were his activities drawing police attention? Did you actually speak to his former teachers to determine what was Corie's role in this dismissal? What was his behavior and his responsibility in these matters? Victim? That is just an excuse.

Your comment, "channel his anger into political action" was most revealing. What is Corie angry about? You say gentrification, yet never fully explained why. Angry that the neighborhood has condos? Angry that his neighborhood now has retail shops? Angry that his inappropriate behavior is no longer tolerated? What was he positively working towards?

Don't you see that he is channeling his anger into keeping his neighborhood in a state of poverty, filth and victimism? Where are the positive, life-affirming changes that he is working on? Where are Corey's new ideals about what his community can become? Squalor is what nurtures this victim mentality and your piece helps feed that belief.

Did you visit Prologue? Do you know what really goes on there? Did you know the "teacher" you featured is not a certified teacher and has his own questionable motivations? Probably not.

You talk about activism as if all activism is good. But what is good about activism that wants to perpetuate poverty and the victim mentality?

Corie seems like a bright, misguided young man. You reinforced his negativity. How sad!

May I suggest you examine what harm this kind of journalism has on our community. If you want to look at ways to rebuild healthy communities why don't you do a piece on the work going on right now with Americor's Uptown Dialogue project.

This project—using the Uptown Boy's & Girl's Club members—is talking with community members to identify and highlight what's working in Uptown. They will be presenting their finding in a multi-media presentation in early June.

A society that only focuses on anger, bad behavior, and poverty is doomed to stay there.

--Katharine Boyda

My name is Zain Bullie, and as a resident of the Uptown Community, I am pleased to witness your dedication to exposing the catastrophic effect that gentrification has on communities, especially Uptown. Because of the leadership shown by the likes of several Prologue High School teachers such as Jacinda Hall and Anton Miglietta, overlooked and under-appreciated youth now have a vehicle to voice their concerns and opinions. To deny these youth that right and vehicle would have an adverse effect on their future and would soon reveal itself as being detrimental to society as a whole. People's infatuation with the "almighty" dollar has somehow superseded their morals and consideration for others' lifestyles. The greedy and inconsiderate are continuously uprooting families with no remorse, which in turn affects the sense of stability of our youth. This must be stopped. Thank you for giving us another voice. Keep up the good work and know that you have 100% of my support.

--Zain Bullie
Chicago, IL